Keeping up with viruses: Discoveries in 2022 to keep an eye on

Subject : Science and Technology

Context:

As COVID-19 brought on by the SARS-CoV-2 virus continues to wreak havoc worldwide, scientists have documented new virus species, showing us just how diverse the microscopic world is.

A new, potentially dangerous relative of SARS-CoV-2:

Khosta-2, a coronavirus found in Russian bats, shows potentially dangerous features.
It is closely related to SARS-CoV-2,Khosta-2 was discovered in 2020 and is also capable of infecting human cells.
The virus can use its spike protein to latch on to a receptor protein called angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), found throughout human cells and make its entry.

Virus in Swiss ticks:

A virus transmitted by ticks, first detected in China in 2017, was spotted in Switzerland.
TheAlongshan virus is a flavivirus, a genus of RNA viruses known to be transmitted by mosquitoes and ticks.
Dengue, West Nile Virus and Zika virus belong to this genus, which infects up to 400 million people annually.
The virus in question causes tick-borne encephalitis. The symptoms include fever and headaches.
Scientists warn that it could pose a public health concern in Switzerland. In 2019, the Alongshan virus was also found in south-eastern Finland.

Spillover threats from new virus:

Researchers identified the Kiwira virus (circulating through bats) in Tanzania and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
The new virus is a type of Hantavirus, which is transmitted by rodents and bats.
It is known to cause respiratory and kidney diseases in humans.

Virus in China:

Chinese researchers announced a new henipavirus: Langya henipavirus (LayV).
Henipaviruses is a genus whose members include the closely-related Hendra virus and Nipah virus.
The group has emerged as a threat in the Asia-Pacific region.
The new virus gets its name from a town called Langya in Shandong, an eastern Chinese province.
LayVdoes not pose significant threats as they are neither highly infectious nor fatal.

New virus could control agricultural pests:

In China, two new insect-specific viruses were reported in green leafhoppers, a significant agricultural pest, in 2022.
CicadellaViridisiflavirus 1 andCicadellaViridisNido-like virus 1 could potentially be used to control the pest population.